Countdown
by TrenchcoatsAreSexy
Summary: I decided to try my hand at one of these "American Battle Royale" stories, with a few twists. A group of high school students show up to take a test, not realizing their BR-obsessed principal has other plans...
1. Class List

Class List

**Boys**

Brandon Briggs

Langdon Fikes

Xavier Hart

Cortman Kensington

Pacey Mitchell

Dark Myzee

Samuel Pench

Victor Price

Edward Ross

Nathan Steinberg

Jarrell Thomas

Tyrell Thomas

Uri Yang

**Girls**

Ginger al-Sakin

Alaina Barski

Friday Black

Kenya Breene

Opal Day

Ikurrina Escobar

Rei Khan

Queenie Martin

Yael Monroe

Zakiya Moren

Henrietta Parker

Mariana Poloski

Wendy Sanchez


	2. IntroductionChapter One

Chapter One

"Can you remind us while we're in school on a SATURDAY again, please?" Henrietta Parker groaned as she walked into the third floor classroom. She had pulled back her long blonde hair and peppered it with butterfly clips. She had the same near-flawless look she normally did, but also a trademark scowl that kept her face from looking as attractive as it may have been otherwise.

"School, ya know? Tests? That thing we have to do if we want to get to college?" her friend Mariana Poloski sarcastically responded. Mariana was possibly the only person who could get away with giving Henrietta sarcastic remarks – Henrietta was near the top of the ladder at Sterling Park Senior High School, but Mariana was AT the top. She was a striking girl, with long dark hair and blue eyes, a clear head-turner in Sterling Park's walls.

Henrietta rolled her eyes back at Mariana and plopped ungracefully down in her seat, crossing her arms.

"That teacher had better be here soon," she griped. "I still can't believe my parents talked me into taking this stupid AP course. Where we have to take practice tests on Saturdays!"

The twenty-six member class of AP World History was set to begin taking their first round of practice tests on that Saturday – a dazzling April morning on which all twenty-six would have much rather been outside.

Mariana smirked and sat down next to Henrietta, bringing a finger to her mouth to boredly suck on a nail.

"Soon, school will be over. Then; success!" she announced, smirking again.

"Why are we the first people here?" Henrietta complained. "Remind us to NOT get anywhere early again. I hate waiting for people to show. It's quarter-of already, where IS everyone?"

"Oh, get a hold of yourself, they'll be here soon," Mariana replied.

As if on a sort of ironic cue, the door opened and a group of students walked in. However, it was one of the groups of students Mariana and Henrietta would have rather not seen: a few of "the nerds", a group of kids who flocked to honors courses like flies to honey. There was Xavier Hart in front with his short black hair and matching black-rimmed glasses (it was fitting that he was in front, as it would have been hard to see him otherwise – he was only about five-foot-three); Nathan Steinberg, who was a huge Science buff and was also touting a pair of glasses but sported a blonde crew cut; and Ginger al-Sakin, a shy girl who wore a Muslim headscarf and who always sat in the back of any classroom. The three looked over at Mariana and Henrietta and then exchanged glances before sitting down in the back of the room.

A few minutes later, girls who were more in Mariana and Henrietta's social sphere arrived. Kenya Breene, a pretty African-American girl with her hair in one long braid, was being trailed by her best friend, Zakiya Moren.

"Hey, Mari! Henri!" Kenya called out, walking up to them and sitting quickly. "When are we getting' this show on the road?"

"I don't know," Henrietta replied with a sigh. "No one's here yet, except for us and the nerds."

"Where's Alaina?" wondered Zakiya, turning to Mariana. "Didn't she ride with you?"

"Nah," Mariana replied, "Her stepdad's driving her in, she was running late with something." She shrugged and then shrugged again, as if to give off a "I REALLY don't know what's going on" message.

The door burst open and the three class members of Sterling Park's football team burst in.

"Hey baby!" Brandon Briggs exclaimed to Henrietta, whom he had dated off and on in the past. "How are you?" He quickly made his way over to sit with the group, along with his friends Tyrell Thomas and Langdon Fikes.

A few steps behind the group was Tyrell's twin brother, Jarrell, who was lagging behind with his friends Edward Ross and Wendy Sanchez. Although the three were taking this AP course, they had a reputation around school as stoners and slackers, who spent a good deal of time sneaking behind the school to get high.

"So, I'm gonna rock this test! Huh – huh!" Brandon exclaimed. Mariana laughed.

"Don't get too eager. Remember, it's only a practice test, Brandon," she told him.

"Yeah, but I'm still gonna rock it," he replied, turning and playfully slapping Tyrell on the shoulder. "That's right, man, right?"

The door creaked open yet again to reveal Ikurrina "Rina" Escobar and Samuel Pench, two other members of the "nerd" clique. They slunk in to sit next to their group. They were followed in quick succession by the close-knit drama kids, though they had a tendency to argue endlessly around casting time for the school plays – Victor Price, Uri Yang and his girlfriend Rei Khan, Queenie Martin and Yael Monroe. They took their seats to the front of the classroom.

Slinking in behind the nerds and drama kids was Alaina Barski, who was looking rather frazzled – her blonde hair was sticking up slightly and she still had a brush in her hand. She quickly rushed over and sat down next to Langdon, giving him a nervous/apologetic look. He opened his mouth to ask what had happened with her, but was cut off by the sound of the door being kicked in.

"What the…" Langdon began, but then broke into a snicker. It was a group of students dressed in black trenchcoats – Cortman "Cort" Kensington, Pacey Mitchell, Dark Myzee, Friday Black and Opal Day. None of the other kids really took that group seriously. "Look who just burst in," he hissed at his friends. No one was particularly easy around the group either, however – they tried to avoid face-to-face confrontations.

Behind their back they had dubbed them the "Trenchcoat Mafia", after the famous Columbine group. It was just something about them…


	3. Hour 0, 26 Students Remaining

Chapter Two

Hour Zero, 26 Students Remaining

"Haha, did you see the looks on their faces?" Cort Kensington asked as he leaned back on his desk, facing his compatriots. Cort wasn't terribly tall or bulky – he was only five-foot-seven and had no muscle to speak of – but he had a mouth that, at least he felt, made up for his lack of brawn. He wasn't an unattractive boy – he had emerald-green eyes, a brown crew cut, and a pleasant enough face – but he was brash and fairly obnoxious and thus had quickly made his way to the bottom of Sterling Park's social ladder – either that, or he had always been there and become so brash in response.

"Hah, yeah," agreed Friday Black as she twirled a finger through her ebony hair. She had a tendency to hang on to Cort's every word, something that could get a bit irritating for him – but at least she noticed him. Friday's best friend was Opal Day – they had bonded together in elementary school over their unusual names – and the two complimented each other well. Friday was tall and lean, while Opal was short and a bit plump. Both considered themselves goths and both spent every day wearing the same long black, now slightly falling-apart, trenchcoats.

The last two members of their group were Pacey Mitchell and Dark Myzee. Pacey had been Cort's best friend since middle school, and the two rarely parted ways (leading to many jabs from jocks about the two being gay). He was tall, very skinny, and had long dirty blonde hair. He was also quiet, tending to let Cort do most of the talking, and thus far more agreeable-seeming.

Dark was a bit of a outsider, even to this outsider's group. He was more an emo-kid than a goth, and was much less confrontational than anyone else in the group. The others had their suspicions that Dark really WAS gay, but as they felt beggars couldn't be choosers they hung around with him anyway.

The five were immersed in their conversation and did not even see the tall, broad-shoulder figure in the business suit walk into the room. They did not look up until they heard a ruler smack across the blackboard.

Twenty-six heads snapped up in unison.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why you are here," said the business-suited man. The class quickly recognized him as their principal, Mr. Stone.

"Um, to take a test?" volunteered Henrietta in a confused voice. "Where's Mr. Menle?"

Mr. Stone let out a soft snicker and then smiled.

"Children, have you ever read the novel Battle Royale?"

Everyone looked confused, before Opal slowly raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Day."

"Um, it's a Japanese book about a group of ninth graders who have to kill each other cause of some government program," she replied, looking up at him confused.

"That's quite right, Miss Day. I recently read this book and I must say…"

Cort rolled his eyes, waiting for the comment about the gratuitous violence or the…

"And I thought, what a splendid idea."

Mariana and Henrietta exchanged looks. Their principal could not be serious.

"Haha, funny joke," Mariana said nervously, "I'm gonna go home now." She began to rise from her seat as Mr. Stone reached in his pocket and pulled out a pistol. "What?" she whispered, gasping out.

"Get back in your seat, Miss Poloski. Or I will put you back in there in pieces."

She sat back down, trembling, as Mr. Stone smirked.

"Good. Glad we can be agreeable to one another. Here are the rules. Alas, I lack the resources for the collars that they had in the novel – instead, I have engineered all of the doors with bombs. So, you try to escape; you die."

The teenagers exchanged frightened looks as it suddenly dawned on them that this was for real. Shy Rei Khan, an Asian-American girl who worked on stage crew, began crying. Her boyfriend, Uri Yang, reached over to pull her close, whispering unheard words of comfort.

"How sweet," Mr. Stone commented sarcastically. "You will each receive a bag with a weapon – no maps or compasses needed as we're not leaving the school, and no water because I'd rather watch all you little shits suffer. I will spare the life of whomever lives at the end. All phones have been disconnected and, as you may know, cell phone service is nonexistent inside the school." He grinned evilly. "If no winner has been decided by the time it becomes Sunday, you all die. A little motive to play, there. And so, as I read your name, come get your bag. Let the game begin." He snickered and pulled out a class list. "Ginger al-Sakin?"

Ginger looked around, terrified, before darting up and taking her bag from Mr. Stone. She walked out the door to the hall and slipped through another door, collapsing into tears.

"Alaina Barski." Alaina looked at her friends, who gave her looks of complete confusion back, and took her bag before disappearing into the hall as well.

"Friday Black." Friday gave a pleading glimpse at Opal, who nodded, and got up to take her bag and walk through the door.

"Kenya Breene." Kenya strutted up, her mask of self-confidence at full force, angrily grabbed her bag and broke into a jog on her way out.

"Brandon Briggs." Brandon bounded up, grabbed his bag and disappeared as well. Langdon and Tyrell blinked, wondering why their friend hadn't even looked at them on the way out.

"Opal Day." Opal scrambled to her feet, walked over, grabbed the bag furiously and walked out.

"Ikurrina Escobar." Rina pushed herself up, shaking and blinking back tears, as she walked up and languidly received her bag before making her way through the door.

"Langdon Fikes." Langdon looked at Tyrell, then got up quickly, wanting to figure out what kind of plan Brandon must have to get out of this. Brandon always had a plan. He gripped his bag and walked out the door.

"Xavier Hart." Xavier slowly got up and made his way to Mr. Stone, giving him a questioning look as he took his bag and continued on.

"Cortman Kensington." Cort slowly got up, surreptitiously reaching his hand out to Pacey. He didn't care if it looked gay or whatever, they were probably all about to die due to this crazy ass game this psycho principal was instituting. But then again, maybe not. Maybe Pacey and he could win against this. If anyone could do it, the two of them could.

Pacey wordlessly reached out and squeezed Cort's hand. Cort nodded simply, then let go and walked up to take his bag and walk out the door, biting his lip to keep from screaming at the principal. He would have to play his cards right.

"Rei Khan." Rei got up, still sobbing, as she looked at Uri and gave him a wordless look. She got up and took her bag, continuing out the door.

"Queenie Martin." Queenie got to her feet and stumbled over to the principal, taking the bag from him and running out the door.

"Pacey Mitchell." Pacey got up, his tall frame hovering awkwardly as he walked up to take the bag and continue on.

"Yael Monroe." Yael rose to her feet, glaring at the principal. "Keep your bag. I'm not playing," she snapped and continued out the door.

"You'll be easy pickings!" Mr. Stone called after her. "Zakiya Moren."

Zakiya got up, blinking, as she grabbed her back, glared at Mr. Stone (feeling invigorated by Yael not getting shot when she had snapped at him) and slipped through the door.

"Dark Myzee." Dark rushed to his feet, looking around, shuddering as he took his bag and followed after Zakiya.

"Henrietta Parker." Henrietta slowly got up from her seat, shaking, grabbed her bag and walked out without a look.

"Samuel Pench." Sam ran up, grabbed his bag, and tried to follow after Henrietta.

"Mariana Poloski." "Victor Price." "Edward Ross." "Wendy Sanchez." "Nathan Steinberg." "Jarrell Thomas." "Tyrell Thomas." "Uri Yang."

As the names were called off, the students took their bags and made their way out the door… to whatever may lay ahead.


	4. Hour 1, 26 Students Remaining

Chapter Three

Hour 1, 26 Students Remaining

"Can you believe this? Why didn't anyone ask him WHY? Why didn't anyone stop him?" Wendy asked as she, Jarrell, and Edward huddled together in the second floor room 235, the Chemistry lab. "I don't understand – why didn't I?"

"I guess we were just all in a state of shock," Edward replied, "This doesn't really seem REAL, you know?" He looked down at his bag and slowly opened it, as if it were a bomb ready to explode. "I've got a blowtorch," he said in a soft voice as he figured it carefully. "I can't deal with this shit, man. I never even wanted to be in this class. My mom said she'd stop helping me out with rent if I didn't take it."

"It must be nice to live on your own," Wendy said dreamily, trying to distract herself from the craziness at hand. "My mom's such a BITCH, she never gives me any space at all."

"You guys, really," Jarrell cut in, "Why doesn't anyone rush our little bitch of a principal? Then we're not doing this stupid, crazy shit."

"Uh, Jarrell," Edward said, pointing to a note taped to his flamethrower. He slowly read aloud, "And if you get any ideas about rushing me, I have the remote control to bombs that can blow up the entire school – so I go, you all go."

"How much you think he's totally full of shit?" Jarrell replied, "I mean, come on, what is this, Saw IV or some shit? He's our principal, he went a little crazy, we all band together and rush him."

"All band together?" Wendy asked sarcastically. "Do you realize that, at this very moment, Cort Kensington and his friends have GUNS? The same kids that kept getting sent to the counselor's office cause EVERYONE thought they'd shoot up the school? I don't think they'll be interested in banding together – I think they'll be interested in shooting everyone they hate."

"I don't know," Jarrell said measuredly, "I don't think even Cort and Pacey can get caught up in this shit. Who's gonna play this stupid game? We wait it out 'til the cops figure out what's going on and then we're safe, man. We cool."

"Yeah man," Edward replied, "We real cool… Just as long as none of our classmates is fucking psycho."

"They're NOT," Jarrell said. "We've been in classes with these guys FOREVER. None of them are psycho."

"I wish I had your outlook," Wendy cut in, "But I'd rather head out and find a way out."

"I want to stay here… I'm not going out to get myself killed," Edward replied. "If you guys are insisting on heading out… well just make sure you come back if you find anything?" His voice showed a bit of pleading. "Please?"

"We will, Edward… We're going to find a way out, come back for you, and escape. Then the cops can come back and get the rest of the kids out. We're in. You coming, Jarrell?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'll come with you. Be careful, Ed…" Jarrell cautioned.

"I will be. It's cool," Edward replied.

Wendy and Jarrell reluctantly slipped out the door, turning one more time to take a glimpse at their friend. Wendy waved to him, and then the two continued to tread carefully along the hallway.

Edward crouched down under the lab table, curling his knees to his chest but feeling extremely girly for doing so. Who was right? Would people actually play this game out of fear or out of… wanting to anyway? He couldn't understand why anyone would want to shoot their classmate… It was a foreign concept. He'd never been particularly close to his classmates, with the exception of Wendy and Jarrell, but he didn't really dislike the others.

They would come back for him, and everything would be okay.

He felt like he had been there for hours when he heard the door open. He jumped up.

"Wendy! Jarrell!" He was cut off by a shotgun blast. Falling to the ground in shock, at first, he clutched his chest. What? No. Someone was… playing?

He looked up into the face of Brandon Briggs, who smiled.

"Burnouts don't belong," Brandon sniped at him and laughed. "Sorry. When I play, I play to win." He fired the shotgun again, and Edward Ross was no more.

The game was on.


	5. Hour 1, 25 Students Remaining

Chapter Four

Hour 1, 25 Students Remaining

Henrietta walked slowly along the length of the cafeteria, shuddering as she looked over at Mariana, Alaina, and Zakiya. All out of their group but Kenya had managed to find them there… and where were the boys? Where was Brandon?

"Do you think…" she began slowly, "that he's out there? Still out there? What if someone's…" she trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

"I'm sure he's fine, Henri," Mariana replied helpfully. "Brandon knows how to handle himself – that's why he's quarterback. He'll work it out."

"I hope so… I mean, I never really told him how much he means to me," Henrietta admitted, though the words sounded stupid actually coming out; not at all like those romantic movies she loved to watch where everything sounded perfect and was undertoned by beautiful flowing music.

"I'm sure he knows," Mariana replied.

"I hate this. What is this crazy shit, anyway?" Zakiya railed. "No one is going to play this stupid game."

"Yeah, you're right," Mariana replied, "I can't see any of our classmates actually killing anyone." She looked down at her bag and rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe a few."

"Don't say that, Mariana!" Zakiya snapped, "That does not make me feel better!" She looked over at Alaina, who was sitting on a bench, curled up, seemingly completely out of it. "Lainy?" she called. "You okay?" Alaina simply shook her head. "You sure?"

It was that split second that it took for Zakiya to turn around and see Mariana pointing a pistol at Henrietta's head.

"M-Mari?" squeaked Henrietta, "What is this?"

"You little bitch. You've ALWAYS thought you were prettier than me!" Mariana railed. "You're going to die. I'm going to kill every last one of you little bitches… Because you'd all kill me if you got the fucking chance. Didn't you go behind my back to get Brandon? Didn't you tell him I was no good for him so he would fuck YOUR ugly ass?" Zakiya jumped up and began to back away.

"Mariana! Drop the gun!" she pleaded. Alaina looked listlessly up at Zakiya, who reached out her hand and gripped Alaina's in hers. "We gotta go…" she whispered.

"Mariana, please don't do this…" Henrietta pleaded, "I never thought I was prettier than you… I would never kill you… Please… This is…" BANG.

Zakiya didn't pause to turn and see the carnage. She gripped Alaina's hand harder and began to run as quickly as she could.

"Come on, Lainy, we gotta go!" she yelled at the blonde girl as she sprinted out of the library and down the hall. "We gotta lose her!" Zakiya, luckily, had won medals for indoor track, though hanging on to Alaina (not nearly as fast) was slowing her down. Still, she had a clear advantage, and managed to gain enough speed to make it up the stairs; heading towards the third floor and slipping into a classroom and locking the door. "Oh my God!" she screamed when she got inside. "Can you… No… I can't," she continued, answering her own question. She collapsed on the floor, her whole body shaking. "She shot her, she fucking shot her." Zakiya burst into tears, bagging on the floor as Alaina slowly sat down beside her. "I thought… I thought this wasn't real. I thought it was fake. But it's real, Lainy, it's so fucking real. And we're all gonna die."

Friday clutched her arms around her breasts as she slowly made her way into the cafeteria. It seemed the safest place to hide, to her, as it was the largest – plenty of tables to hide under, and she could even slip into the kitchen and hide there. She hoped that Opal had also been thinking along these lines… The two of them needed to stick together; best friends.

Friday unlocked her arms and shoved her hands into the pockets of her trenchcoat. It was black – a kind of blue-black, almost, made not out of leather but of something that almost seemed like plastic. It wasn't the most comfortable coat in the world, but she had always loved the way she looked in it – she had a trenchcoat like Cort and Pacey had. Cort… she sighed. Where was Cort? Was he safe?

Or was he…?

No. She refused to acknowledge that thought. Cort couldn't be playing. Yeah, he had talked about… wanting to shoot up the school… from time to time… and yes, their style of dress had come almost directly from a reaction and a bit of an unhealthy interest in Columbine, but…

Cort wouldn't play. She had to believe that.

She sighed and sat down on a bench, trying to get a grip on all the thoughts running around her head. If she had reported Cort for the things he'd said, then maybe he would have had to transfer schools. He wouldn't be here right now – he'd be pissed off, but safe.

But now they were all going to die and it was all her fault.

No, not if she found Cort. He would know what to do. Or he would find her, as she wasn't looking planning on leaving the cafeteria. It was deserted, which was the best thing…

Where were Opal, Cort, Pacey, Dark… the others? Would they find her?

"Hello," said a voice behind her.

Friday whipped around. Mariana Poloski was smiling at her.

"Uh, hey, Mariana," Friday said nervously. The two of them had never gotten along; Mariana was way too preppy and perfect. Friday hated pretty much everything about her. But, if they were going to beat this, she'd have to go along to get along.

"Hi, Friday," Mariana responded. "How are you?"

"Erm, shitty. How bout you?" Friday asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, me too," Mariana replied, "I just… I'm so scared. So frightened and I don't know what to do. Can I hide with you?"

"Of course!" Friday exclaimed. "Let's just…" She began to turn towards the table. She didn't have a second to react as the gun went off and the bullet lodge in her brain.

Instant kill.

Mariana smirked.

"Little goth bitch," she hissed. She watched as Friday's lifeless body slunk to the ground and the blood began to pool on the floor. Mariana began the arduous task of pushing the table in front of the body… hopefully some others would come into the cafeteria as well… Only time would tell.


End file.
